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OSTREA; 



OB, 



THE LOVES OF THE OYSTERS 



A LAY 



A. FISHE SHELLY, ESQ 



1887 I 

NEW YORK : "-* 
T. J. CROW EN, 699 BROADWAY. 

1857. 



T&I731 



The following capriccio was put together 
for the writer's diversion, and is printed for 
that of a few friends. 

Without further comment, it is submitted 
to any others, in whose hands it may chance 
to fall, and who may care to peruse such a 
trifle. 



SEMEL INSANIVIMUS OMNES." 



Introbuction anb l^biatioit. 



"The Oyfter is a creature that perambulateth the bottom 
of the fea, and abforbeth nutriment from the limofity thereof" 
— faith the venerable Alfredus in his treatife "De Prodigiis;'* 
and farther — ** It hath for its muniment and protedion two 
conches, or valvulje, and therein advantageth the Testudo or 
Shell-Crab which is mighty vulnerable between the joints of 
his belly." It hath been moft frequently the fubjeft of in- 
quifition and comment by learned writers, both neoterick and 
antient ; and hath been the comfort and folacement of the 
people of all times, and ever held in high dignity and repute. 
This creature was known of old to the Philiftasi, and to the 
Sidonians, and to all the people that did fkirt the Mediter- 
RANEUM. The Colchians alfo did fetch them from the Euxine, 
and the Samothracians from the fhores of the ^gean. They 
were matters of great favor and rclilh (grati saporis), it is 
alfo reported, among the inhabitants of Cyprus, and bccaufc 
the Jews did hold them, as well as all Shell fifh, as an abomina- 
tion, the Cypriots did make a law, that if any Jew fhould be 
caft on their coafls, he fhould be ftraightways knocked in 
the head; which fhoweth that they did rate and repute this 
filh even beyond the life of man. But cfpecially were they 
held in eftccm among the Romans, who did bellow wondrous 



6 

pains upon the procreation and fattening thereof. The fhores 
of the Hellefpont were mainly fruitful therein. " Ora Hel- 
LESPONTiA CETERIS osTREosioR ORIS." We read alfo of the 
" OsTRiFERi FAUCES Abidi." But above all, were they famed 
that were raifed in the Lacus Lucrinus, of which Horatius 
fpeaketh as " Lxjcrina conchylia," and which he did ufe to 
wafh down with his Lefbian wine. 

" Capaciores, affer huc, puer, scyphos, 

Et ChIA VINA, AUT LeSBIA." 

To which lake were they brought and fed from Brundufium, 
alfo in great repute therefor ; as, alfo, from Baiae, where were 
planted the firft Oyfter-beds by one Sergius, as Pliny telleth, 
"Sergius Orata, primus, ostrearia in Bajano locavit." 
To Italy, alfo, were moft excellent ones fetched from Rutupia, 
in England, in the time of Juvenal, 

"rutipinove edita fundo 
Ostrea " 

It is related by Gemiftus Viaticus, the Cosmographer, of 
one Jehorax, King of Mefopotamia, that he was wont to 
divine by them, and that, dum venerit judicare, he did ufe 
to confult a vaticinating cock, before entering upon any work 
of great import, and, alfo, a divining box of living oyfters ; and 
that he would regulate himfelf according to the manner that 
they did feverally gape unto him. 

In the antient time, in England, were they alfo in great 
liking and ftore; whereof it is faid "Les gentz du royaumk 



-7 

SONT USEZ PLUS QUE NUL PART AILLEURES ; " and, alfo, OH the 

Southern-wcftermoft coaft of Scotland, where they were 
planted and forwarded, and of the right to the beds, whereof 
great difsenfions and differences did arife, and for the fettle- 
ment whereof it is ftated in the Regiam Majestatem, that, 
"When ye twelve Royall men compeer and pass upon ye 
assize, they shall proceede and trye qhuilk of ye partyes, 
ye persewer, or ye defendant, hath best right to ye londs 

CLAMED." 

Grldllwgl, the learned Welchman, alfo extolleth them, in 
his " Llw rhthwr Lrwll," as, alfo, Salvianus, in his work 
*'De Piscium natura et preperatione ;" altho', he faith, that 
they do, if much partaken of, difpofe to melancholy, and to 
the feeing, in one's fleep, of phantoms and incubi. 

It is related by Pontoppidan, that Elfhelm, one of the Kings 
of the Weft-Saxons, did ordain that three fcorc fhould be fat- 
tened daily for his wife, who did mightily affect them ; and 
alfo of one Og, a tyrant of the Icthyophagi, that he did use 
to regale himfelf with a thoufand fricafseed daily, for his break- 
faft. Peter of Banbury relateth that he did merrily feaft, at 
Chefter, upon Chriftmas, with the antient fraternity of the 
wax-chandlers, of oyfters and Hippocras. 

Alexander ab Alexandro relateth of a certain Duke of 
Mufcovy, that he did ufe to keep one to fport withal, as 
others ufe to do with a lap dog, and that, when angered, it 
would quaver with its chaps, as Jackanapes are wont to do 
when in choler. 



8 

The taftc thereof is mighty palateable, and like no other 
living thing. It is mucous in its humours, "glutinosus 
ciBus," and pafseth readily down the gullet or meat-pipe, and 
the much eating thereof doth fatten the body and fortify and 
comfort the fpirits. It is defended, externally, by two lamel- 
lated fhells or valves, whereof the under or convex one ad- 
hereth at times to rocks at the bottom of the fea, or to an- 
other individual, and, as fome maintain, doth not move there- 
from, but is nourifhed and comforted thereat by the influxion 
of the tide that bringeth it food and nutriment ; while others 
contend that it hath the power of tardy motion or gradefcencc, 
and creepeth, or proceedeth by little and little, saltatorially. 

The outer Ihells arc hinged or incardinated at the bafe, and 
indurate and fcaly, sc^uamoso corpore; not denticulated like 
the fcallop, or fpiral as the periwinkle, but ciCATRicostJS, full 
of chops and ga(hes, the which, if handled heedleflly, may cut 
one, for Pliny fays "nectutum est quod cicatricosum." 

This creature hath a heart and vefsels for the conduit of the 
blood ; and it is fympathetic and herdeth with its kind ; and, as 
Gomefius maintaineth, doth, like other fifhes, pine away for 
love, and wax lean. Even so love tyranileth, yea, even in 
dumb creatures ! And what saith Virgil? 

** Et genus ^quoreum, pecudes, pictjeque volucres 
In furias ignem que ruunt ; amor omnibus ideu." 

And likcwifc well, Propertius : 

**HlC DeV9, et terras, et MARIA ALTA DOMAT." 





It appcarelh, too, that, like all lovers, it hath great inclination 
and concordance with the Moon, for it is faid, " Ostreis et 

CONCHYLLIS OMNIBUS CONTINGIT UT CUM LuNA PARITER CRES- 

CANT, PARiTERQUE DECRESCANT." For thc whcrcforc it may 
be concluded a' creature of great fympathies and fenfibilities, 
and well worthy of note and confideration. But efpecially is 
it a moft fweet, pleafant, and delectable thing to them that do 
affect good cheer and the joys of the table, for it may be pre- 
pared and accommodated in many curious fafhions and dis- 
pofitions, to fuit the tafte of each that would partake thereof; 
and of a verity doth it afford a moll enjoyable nutriment and 
ravifhing regalement ; being both dainty, juicy, unctuous, and 
otherwife palateable in itfelf, as well as fanitary and advan- 
tageous in its confequences and effects ; and in footh, altoge- 
ther, moft refrefhing and comforting to the body, and cheer- 
ing to thc fpirits ; and is always, efpecially in thefe days, held in 
great odour and repute by all staunch Epicureans and valiant 
good trenchermen. 

To Yc, then, my moft faftidious anti-Pythagorean Knights 
of thc Refectory, my lively, winfome and moft anti-lenten 
Signor Marrow-finders, my very hey-dey good Don Cofsacks 
of the Larder, my moft cheery and nimble-wittcd Epulators, 
my humourous, trickfy, airy, and waggilh Balhaws of the Buf- 
fet, my dainty defiderating Difh familiars, my roiftering Monks 
of thc order of thc Santo Ragout, my grinding, gulping, gorg- 
ing, ftuffing, tucking, bolting Brobdignagians of the Ordinary, 
my moft jolly and popinaccous Gala-day Junketers, my 
1* 



10 

triumphant Sir Carollers of the order of the Tabulam, my 
canny, convivacious Cormorants, my brifk, merry-making 
Cock-a-hoops of the Larder, my Flagellators of the fielh-pots, 
my palmy, playfome Platter pepperers, my pliant, cimning, 
dabbling, good neighbour Pottagcrs, my What ? — yes-to-be, 
SUR.E-BY-ALL-MEANS Cavilleros of the order of St. Babingoofe, 
my moft Hilarous and fprightly Mafticators, my lively Lads of 
the Locker, my nozzling, gambolling Skip-jacks, my jocund, 
fportive, gleeful, fpirited, roguilh, fall-to-and-fatten-bully Bil- 
bos of the Skillet, my vivacious and double-gummed Cocina- 
ceous Utopians — To Ye, then, my buxom pan Enfiladers, my 
lordly, pecky, approved good Paladins of the belly, my munch- 
ing, paunching Pottle-breakers, my fly Sepoys of the Pantry, 
my keen, nicking nofe-pointers of St. Boniface, my folicitant, 
jubilant Fodder-finders, my Hallo !-what-indeed-are-you- 
THERE Camarados of the Coculum, my gobbling, edacious, Demo- 
crititian Partifans, my rub-a-dub Guerillas of the Commifsariat, 
my moft worihipful, moft unctuous et reverendissimi high 
Pontifices of the temple of St. Venter, my capering, gypfical 
Pals of the Pabulum, my exulting, light-hearted Chop-waggers, 
my fat, wheezing Pigs of Epicurus, my crop-filling, craw-ftuf- 
fing, gizzard-puffing, Phalacrocoratian Parafitcs, my nimble- 
toothed Hidalgos of the Epidepnis, and moft worihipful Grand 
Inquifitors of the Stew-pan — to Ye, and all of Ye, colletive et 
distributive, do I, your humble fcrvant, dedico et concedo 
that which followeth. 

Testaceus, 



11 



As SOME young Pigeon of a farm-yard flock, 
No more content, at home, to fill his crop 
With slugs and bugs, which, still, the daily care 
Of anxious parent would provide him there ; 
But, grown ambitious, now aspires to try 
His wings, as others do, and aims to fly 
For. friendly tree-top, or some neighboring hill 
Fecundative ; whence, stoutly, challenge shrill 
Proud Chanticleer sends forth, and craning far, 
Defies each answering rooster to the war 
Galliginous ! — 



Th' ambitious Squab, now balancing in air 
His small anatomy, with painful care 
Essays his flight, and fluttering all amain 
His unused wings, now up, now down again, 
Or falls or rises ; but no progress makes. 
Unless some friendly bird compassion takes ; 



12 

With kindly care, affords his stronger wing 
To aid the weakness of the little thing ; 
Assists his powers and directs his flight, 
And lands, at length, him safely from his plight 
Aerial — 

So thou, Muse ! assist the feeble flight 
Of me, ambitious, as I plume my wing 
From attic window to the heavenly spring 
Castalian. There, may I, all among 
Th' inspiring beauties of the tuneful throng. 
Drink harmony and fire pure from the fount ; 
Till stronger grown, I then aspire to mount 
Fierce Pegasus, whom thou Apollo guide 
To loftier regions of the aethereal tide ; 
That singing still I rise, and rising sing, 
Crescendo ! 



13 



P A K T 



THEME. 

Niagara ! — who, in thunder tone, 

Callest my spirit yielding to thine own ; 

As turned to thee, each feeble, yearning sense 

Grasps at thy wonders, where, in eloquence 

Primeval, wonderful, unchecked, sublime ! — 

Teaching Eternity, deriding Time, 

O'er the vast gulph thy dreadful music peals 

Great Nature's triumph, and to man reveals 

Omnipotence ; here taught by thee to know 

His littleness, and in reverence to bow 

Before Infinity ! 

Bridged, docked, and tolled, for bath and mill re- 
stricted, 

Daguerred, daubed, rhymed, by every lout de- 
picted ; 



14 

Where Cockney's pic-nic, where fond misses sigh, 
And Papa grumbles as the dollars fly ; 
Where rustic brides philander with their spouses, 
And drink their ginger-beer from " Vista " houses ; 
Where dumpy squaws dispense their tawdry 

wares, 
And brawling hackmen haggle over fares ; 
Where puffing steam, thy glory to abase, 
Sails up thy jaws, and whistles in thy face ! 
I sing not tbee. 

And why not thee ? as here, by thee inspired, 

By nature kindled, and by muses fired, 

I wondering gaze ; while, leaning on my breast, 

In all the glow of instinct love confessed. 

My 0-re-se-qua, through her wild, dark eyes 

Dimmed with affection's thoughts, that gushing 

rise 
Fresh from her soul, untaught, into mine own 
Pours them, as copious as thy flood is thrown : 
And murmurs broken love notes with the breeze 
That sings aeolian music through the trees, 
Cooling the panting currents of her soul 
That, thirsting, leap, beyond her pride's control 
To meet mine own ! — 



15 

Too vast the subject ! — and too great the song ! 
For feeble Muse, that ambles still, along 
Inferior strata of poetic skies, 
Eager to soar, but helpless still to rise — 
And pipes on tenuous reed, to friendly ear. 
Capricious notes, unheard as yet, but near: 
Nor sounds sonorous bass, nor can prolong 
The measured numbers of continuous song : 
Nor asks a poet's name, nor seeks the bay ; 
Humble the theme, and humbler still her lay — 
The Oyster! 

I SING THE Oyster ! (Virgin theme !) 

King of Molluscules ! Ancient of the stream ! 

Thy birth was Time's — soon as tli' affrighted 

world, 
A quivering mass, in space immense was hurled — 
In darkness cradled — 'mid chaos nursed 
Tumultuous ! — Ambiguous, till burst 
Thy unctuous beauty on a world where none 
Could know thy merit ; there, alone 
Thou pined'st forlorn, 'mid mud and flood and 

slime, 
Ere man came on the stage, far in the time 

Cosmogenetical. 



Nor yet alone — primordial bivalve ! 
Say, in thy nonage, didst thou not have 
Some shell-fish she, by tender tie endeared. 
To share thy mud, and pull thy downy beard ? — 
Her love to cherish, and to calm her fear 
When Megalosaurus fierce came rather near ; 
Or when Galumpus, monarch of the main. 
Loud bellowing, shook afar the watery plain ! 
Or CoL-Los-socH-E-LYs, grim giant of the shore, 
Lashed out his tail, and gave his morning roar 
Thundiferous ! 

How long, bemired, inglorious, didst thou sleep ? 
Thy charms secreted by the envious deep, — 
Unknown, untasted, and unsung ! — So lies 
The fairest flower 'neath Arab's desert skies ; 
So sleeps the gem within its rocky tomb ; 
So blinks the planet in its distant gloom. 
Till some rare savant brings it to the view — 
So, half the world, for ages, \'dy j^erdue. 
Till great Colombo chanced this way to steer, 
And waked our dozing hemisphere. 
One morning ! 



17 

To fame unknown, but no less worthy, he, 
Who, of all men, first found and tasted thee. 
How great his faith ! his courage how audacious ! 
To swallow thee, cold, slimy, and vivacious ! 
What tremor his ! as when thou first didst glide 
Down his oesophagus, and didst nimbly hide 
Within the inner man ; but when, by repetition, 
He gained, at length, the rapturous fruition 
Of all thy charms, — what triumph his ! to find 
That he, of all, had given to mankind 
A new sensation ! 

Was't Fhut, or Pcleg, Shem, or great Magog ? 

Or lively Nimrod, or perhaps his dog ? 

Or did the royal lips of great Nebu- 

Chadnozzor first smack over you ; 

Ere yet, a ruminant, this stately sinner 

Was sent, with cows and goats, to pick his dinner ? 

Or broiled, or roasted, did thy unctuous savor 

Perfume the marble halls of old Belshazzar ? 

Did Pharaoh gulp thee, 'ere the sea gulped him ? 

Or Troglodyte, or Scandinavian grim ? 

Long, long ago ! 



18 

The Eomans knew, and loved thee ! So assure us 
Old writers, and those sons of Epicurus, 
With mullets, and other ancient fishes, 
Would serve thee up, the choicest of their dishes, 
While Baiae and Brundusium, as 'tis said, 
Rivaled — in claiming the best Oyster bed! 
But now, nomadic, through all regions known, 
From Polar sea to fierce Equator's zone ; 
Pagan and Christian, Turcoman and Jew, 
All stew, broil, bake, and swallow you — 
You Ouster! ! 



19 



NIGHT AND LOYE. 



Far in the West, the Lord of light 
Has sunk to rest ; and now the Night 

Begins her silent reign : 
Each drooping flower hangs its head, 
Each warbler seeks his leafy bed, 

His home, each tired swain. 

The waning sky mysterious fades 
Far into gloom ; and deep'ning shades, 

As mourning mantles, fall 
O'er land and sea, and nod the trees, 
Waving in Evening's dying breeze, 

Like plumes funereal. 

Now wheels the bat his dusky flight. 
While little cricket chirps to Night 
His melancholy lay ; 



20 

And Katy-did to answering mate, 
His love and sorrow doth relate, 
Until the opening day. 

Save these, and where from ancient tree 
Yon owl, hooting mournfully, 

Doth unto Night complain, 
No sound is heard, no life is seen ; 
A solemn stillness reigns serene 

O'er valley and o'er plain. 

Still soft and warm with Summer's glow, 
The breeze of Autumn, murmuring low. 

Fans Nature as she sleeps ; 
While veil of night is round her thrown, 
And Cynthia from high Heaven looks down 

And lonely vigil keeps. 

Her rays thrown out o'er Ocean's breast. 
Sport with his strength, and light the crest 

Of each dark rolling sea ; 
Like molten silver, gleaming bright, 
They dance and leap, till lost to sight 

Far in th' immensity. 



21 

Swift sailing clouds, like passing dreams, 
Some dark, some tipped with silvery beams, 

Move on in long array ; 
Oft they obscure yon little star, 
With radiance mild that shines afar, 

Like Hope 'mid Life's dismay. 

Sacred to mystery and to love, 

Fair Night ! thou canst each bosom move 

In sweetest thought ; to thee. 
In grief, each charg-ed heart 
Doth love its burthen to impart, 

And claim thy sympathy. 



The tide is low on Shrewsbury's shore, 
And past is midnight's silent hour. 

And calm that silvery stream : 
From Highland's brow the beacons twin 
With glowing eye, like Cyclops grim, 

Send forth their warnins: gleam. 



'O O' 



Send forth their rays far into gloom, 
To light the weary seaman home : 
So, o'er life's troubled sea. 



22 

Bright beams of Truth the darkness cheer, 
And guide the erring soul to steer 
To heavenly sanctuary. 

Wooing the breeze, that softly sung 
Along the shore, the rocks among, 

The lovely Mya lay ; 
The little waves that danced to shore 
With glittering showers laved her o'er, 

Or cooled her with their spray. 

Mya ! — fairest of shell-fish, she. 
That creep the shore, or swim the sea. 

Or haunt the slimy ooze ; — 
Oyster of ancient family, 
Of tender years, scarce summers three 

Her rounded valves disclose. 

Loveliest of Shrewsbury's favored race, 
Adorned with every virgin grace. 

And fresh as earliest dew ! 
With softest yellow shines her skin. 
While violet blood, her veins within, 

Reveals a purple hue. 



23 

Polished each shell on outward side, 
By amorous kissings of the tide 

Long loving and caressing ; 
While, pure as orient pearl within, 
Gleaming, as dying dolphins' skin, 

Its death in light expressing. 

Around her, fine as silk-worm's thread, 
And soft as downy plumage shed, 

To shield its tender young, 
By th' Orcadian bird, and green. 
As is the polished em'rald's sheen. 

Profuse her tresses hung. 

Patent she lay upon the shore ; 
Beauteous the scene, and fit the hour 

For pleasure and for love ; 
Yet, sad at heart ; with many a sigh, 
Do grief and deep despondency 

Her saffi'on bosom move. 

Moistened with tears, each pearly shell, 
That formed her solitary cell 
More iridescent glows ; 



24 

While, to the silent, listening night, 
Sobbing the while, she cloth recite 
The story of her woes. 

" Oh ! LoLiGO ! — dost thou not hear 

" Thy Mya's once loved voice ? 'Twas here 

" Thou bidd'st me to await — 
" I've left my home beneath the rock, 
" And kin and friends are all forsook 

" With thee to share my fate. 

•' Go, gentle breezes of the night ! 
" And carry, in your balmy flight, 

" To him my tearful sighs ; 
" Softly murmuring complain, 
" Tell, tell him of his Mya's pain 

" In saddest melodies." 

" Send him, radiant Queen of night ! 
•' A silvery ray of purest light, 

" To guide him to my heart — 
" Awake ! ye warblers of the grove, 
" In plaintive strains his stay reprove, 

"And all my woe impart. 



"Oh LoLiGo!" she constant cries, 

"LoLiGO," echo soft replies, 

And mocks her rising woe ; 
Panting and faint, she still exclaims, 
And echo, still replying, names 

But " LoLIGO-Z/g-O." 

The shore with " Loligo " resounds 
From echoing rock to rock rebounds 

Fond Love's despairing cry ; 
While, whispering voices of the night, 
From trees and waves and air, unite 

In grieving sympathy. 

How ever sinks the heart oppressed, 
When love, first felt in gentle breast. 

Doubts of another's love ! 
In keen debate of hope and fears. 
In smiles self-mocking, or in tears, 

Its wild, quick throbbings move. 

And swift, through Memory's storied cell, 
Where every word, and look, as well, 
Have long deep nurtured lain — 



26 

With lightning flash, Suspicion flies, 
Illumines each, and amplifies 

The heart's unceasing pain. 

Sadly, the opening bud reveals 
Its promise blighted, when it feels 

Rude Winter's chilling power : 
So Love, touched by Suspicion, pines, 
And drooping, to the earth inclines, 

And fades as does the flower. 

But see ! — emerging from the tide. 
Panting with haste to reach her side. 

Crawls he she loves so well : 
Soon to his Mya's side he came. 
And, glowing with an equal flame, 

Was clasped within her shell. 

Reproaching gently for her fears, 
Her, smiling softly 'mid her tears. 

He soothes with kind caress ; 
"But why so long?" she plaintive cried, 
*' Why leave alone thy promised bride 
♦' In this deserted place ?" 



27 

Responsive he — " Pearl of my soul '. 
"Long since I left my sea-weed hole 
" Hard by the "Western shore. 
" Scarcely had Phoebus hid his head, 
*' Nor yet her curtain Night had spread 
" The face of nature o'er ; 

" Just as I rose above tlie tide, 
" Pholas, my rival, I espied, 

" And closed in fiercest fight — 
'* Long was the struggle,— thrice renewed ; 
" At length the monster fell subdued, 

*' And yielded to my might." 

" And now, I hold thee to my heart 
" Thou dearest one ! no more to part ; 

" Ah ! love me thus for ever ! 
** Thou silvery goddess ! hear our prayer, 
" Long grant us, free from ill and care, 

" To live and love together." 

Bright shone fair Dian, as they told 
The mysteries of their loves, and rolled. 
In music murmuring 



28 

To the shore, the whispering waves ; 
And peeped and smiled from out their caves, 
The clams, in joy concurring. 

And heart did there, attuned to heart 
In rapturous unison, impart 

Love's thrilling melody ; 
Half wished, half spoke, mysterious but di- 
vined 
Before expressed, each sense to thought refined 

By love's sweet Alchemy. 

Each look revealed, each trembling sigh, 
Unbidden the soft mystery 

Beyond the will's control : 
Words were too feeble to convey 
Each rapturous thought's electric play 

That rushed from soul to soul. 

Hope to their gaze with brightest smile 
Illumes the future ; — joy the w^hile 

The present feeds with bliss 
Newborn ; while, to themselves appear 
Their loves all world and heaven,— and each fear 

Is scattered by a kiss. 



29' 

Pleasures of youth and love ! bright dreams 
Of life's bright hours ! though vain, yet gleams, 

Refulgent, through long years of care, 
Your sunny memory ; 
Nor, would I from my heart now dry 

Those founts long since found gushing 
there. 

There, all unchecked, did Fancy stray, 
Flinging her hues, in varied play. 

O'er changing wish and thought ; 
And Conscience smiled, and Memory young 
No tears had known, or thorns among 

Life's joyous flowers had brought. 

Nor weeds of melancholy care. 
Or sad regret, were growing where 

Those joyous flowers were blooming ; 
Nor thoughts of evil augury. 
As clouds, obscured Hope's azure sky. 

The mind as now entombing. 

Danced through the heart the warbled notes 
Of Pleasure's song, from Siren throats, 
As down the silverv tide, 



30 

Wafted by gay Illusion's breath, 
Heedless of sunken rock beneath, 
Life's bark did gently glide. 

Floating from Spring's elysian bowers, 
In joyous band, the sister hours, 

Each from the other veiled ; 
Around me danced, in gayest measure. 
Bestowing each some newer pleasure. 

As dreamingly I sailed. 

Now, scattered wide along the way, 
Life's winding stream as I survey, 

There moves a shadowy host, 
Recalling as by magic power 
But sad regrets of happier hour, 

Of love or friendship lost. 

From Memory's tumultuous cell, 
Aroused, as when some funeral knell 

Starts corpses from the deep, 
Each mocking image springs to view. 
Each shade a shadow to pursue — 

Ah ! Memory ! bid them sleep. 



81 

Emotions past, as from a trance, 
Again awake and flitting, glance 

Along the ice-bound heart ; 
Ye Shadows of the Past ! — in vain 
Ye seek to warm to life again 

Or joy anew impart. 

Buried the hopes that once ye gave 
Deep in the Past, Time's yawning grave, 

No longer ye decoy; 
Wilted and gone the flowers, too, 
In lingering tribute, long that grew 

Above each buried joy. 

One single plant of love, alone 
Survives, in solitary bloom, 

Ah ! may it ever last ! 
Kitty ! tliy love is ever found, 
Creeping, like tender vine, around 

The column of the Past. 

(Though 'tis the fashion, set by Byron, 
Past hopes and pleasures thus to sigh on, 

And draw them from their cloisters, 



Its rather maudlin : so, to gloom 
Return ye shades, no more to roam^ 
And revenons to our Oysters.) 



Coyly resisting, her he led 

To wliere, by lianging rock o'erspread^ 

There was a little cell ; 
An ancient Scalloip's sanctuary, 
Where, free from world and vanity, 

He long had loved to dwell. 

Crooked was liis shell, and gray his beard 
With hoary age, and far revered 

For lore and sanctity ; 
Cunning he was, and well did know 
The moving tides, [and when a blow 

Foretold the changing sky. 

About his cell, arranged with care^ 
Were shells of snails, and sea-weeds rare. 

And mosses old and dry : 
A venerable sponge, his bed, 
And skeleton of eel, at head, 

Warned of mortality. 



There passed, reflective he, the clays, 
Apart from noisy herd, and maze 

Of worldly cares and strife ; 
Sweet Solitude, with love sincere, 
There did he woo, his mistress dear 

And pleasure of his life. 

Wide to his curious gaze displayed, 
The works of nature there he read, 

And pondered as he gazed : 
Full wisely did he cogitate. 
And secrets rare and thoughts of weight 

Had treasured in his pate. 

Happy the wight ! who, thus, away 
From vain delights and world's display, 

His soul may purify ; 
Simple in taste, in each desire — 
Fair Nature, musing, to admire, 

In lonely sanctity. 

This ancient one, his pate without 
His hermit cell, was peering out 

Deep pondering, into night ; 



34 

When, came the lover's to implore, 
That he would them, for evermore, 
In wedlock sweet, unite. 

Though long a foe to love's alarms, 
Their prayer the ancient hermit warms, 

Who yields, at length, consent. 
Their pain he doth commisserate. 
And leads the way with air sedate 

Within his tenement. 

Illumed by phosphorescent shell 
And fire-fly lamp, the little cell 

Glows with unusual light. 
By many a spell and holy rite, 
The loving pair, there doth unite 

This holy anchorite. 

By altar of rosy coral placed. 
Tenderly with shells inlaced, 

The twain became but one : 
No witnesses, save crickets three. 
Who, passing, stop, and sing with glee 

Their epithalamiwn. 



35 

And now, by Hymen's fetters tied, 
LoLiGo bears his juicy bride 

Beneath the sparkling flood ; 
There, wrapped in bliss, the happy pair 
The hone3''-moon together share. 

In softest Jersey mud ! 



SONGS SUNG ON THE ABOVE OCCASION. 



* SONG NO. 1. 

(after an approved modern style.) 
Far shimmering down the lone valley. 
Against the gaunt oaks gnarled and hoary. 
With shadows so lengthy, so dreary, 
So lengthy, so dreary the shadows, 
Yes, darkling and dreary the shadows ; 
Throws glory the Sun, Corruscator, 
His life-ebbing rays thro' the gloaming ; 
See ! now how effete the sky-cleaver. 



* Which was delivered, basking in the moonlight, on the shore, 
by a young periwinkle, of a sentimental turn of mind. 



Falling into the sea, tlie brined water ; 
Yes, into th' unfathomed Pelagic, 
Falls into the sea, the entomber, 
Thec-cold, cheerless home of the fishes, 
Of the slippery Eel, the Con-ml-vus 
Slipping here, slipping there, the Con-vul-vus 
Now here, and now there, the Con-vul-vus, 
Now there, the lithe, clammy Con-vul-vus: 
And with him the Flounder, so slimy. 
The Flounder, so slimy, so scaly, 
In the desolate home of the fishes, 
In the shivering home of the fishes, 
The dank, dreary home of the fishes, 
Of the fishes — 
Yes, the fishes, 
The fishes !— 



See ! there, thro' the clouds the young Luna, 
Yes, the Argentine beams of young Lima, 
Young Luna with beams all of silver, 
Thro' the gooseberry bushes, young Luna, 
Yes, the gooseberries — Ah ! the gooseie?Tm / 
Wiiile there, on the toad-stool — Smell-fungus — 
The bull-frog — the Co-ax-lcer — chunJc-a 
Yes, with green, glistening eye-balls, the gull-frog, 



.S7 

And white, rounded belly, the Bull-frog, 

See his little white bellv, the Bull-fros; ! 

Now he watches the Skunk, As-sa-fe-tah, 

The snow-white, the stealthy exhaler, s 

Lest he creep up too near to his deary, 

To his love, to his deary paludal, 

To his green-streaked and tender limbed deary, 

In the little, mossed, moonlit lagoon — 

Come then, the Horned Owl with hootings, 

And drive Sir Mephitus away — 

Away then ! Avaunt from my charmer ! 

From my love then, away ! 

To-u'hooj) and aicay ! 

And away! 

SONG NO. 2. 
(after an approved model.) 
* Sick, sicTc, sick ! Oh ! moan of the long, long waves, 
Dirging desolate wails for a scarified heart, 
Beating, beating dull tambours of woe 
Along the drear wastes, where her graceless art, 
Where the wheedling gloss and ostensible flow 



* This Spasmody was sung by the disappointed Pholas, on seeing 
the object pf his hopes retire with a rival. 



38 

Of enameled aiFection has cheated the glow 

Of single-souled manhood, and rapined for sport, 

For whimsical purpose, and babbling delight — 

Ha ! — have we clove-footed SatanUy''s night ? 

Are valleys of Paradise deep-lava'd Hell ! — 

Has the great, round Earth come down nearer 

Its knell ?— 
That lily-cheeked minxes, sly, silver-tongued spell 
And the soul-raking practice of eyes that invite 
Can palsy life's pulse ! — Is it well ! Is it well ! 
Come ! tell me, great Heaven — Tst icell? 
Then dance, Devils, dance, in your impish delight, 
Come, dance on this quivering, blood-tenisoned 

heart — 
Ha! ha! for the driveller ! Ha! ha ! for the white- 
Bosomed murdress, the waxed hypocrite. 
The waxen, meek-visaged and masked-hearted /ie ! 
The sleepy-eyed Circe! Come now take me to die, 
Vowfi the blacJc-throated caverri o/^Hell ! 

Sick, sick, sick ! — Oh! fetch me some drug for the 

soul — 
How rank smells the rose on the foul brow of 

Night, 
Where, once, all was muscadine — 



39 

How frowzy and fetid the South wind blows 
On the feverish throbbings, where passion glows, 
Like a gibbering ape, in his mocking spite, 
O'er the wreck of heart-hopings — and as an ill- 
omened bat, 
Jangling his shriek through the poisoned air, 
Through the church-yard heart now chuckles de- 
spair. 
Despair for a calcined sold — Oh ! my darling, love, 

my pride ! 
My own heart's heart ! not thus ! — not thus ! 
Was it good ? was it right ? — Oh ! curse me wide 
The varnished-tongued Janus, the perjurous cheat 
Spoiler of all my dreamed joys — Will she come ? 

my sivcet ! 
What think you, Moon, ivill she come? 
I am here on the shore, all alone, all alone, 
I have crept from the midnight depths of despair, 
Come ! restore me with kisses of light ! 
With kisses, with kisses of light. 
With kisses, with kisses of light 
Back, back, back — all ye furies that tug at my 

heart 
She will save me with kisses of light ! 



40 



REFLECTIONS ON THE ABOVE OCCASION, 



There's beauty in the Ocean tide, 

As roll, in surges, to the shore, 

Its crested billows ; and wide 

And far, majestic, with resounding roar, 

The mighty waters move — 

Or when, perchance, they sleep, 

Some eve ; and quiet moonbeams 

Stealing from spangled heavens, creep 

And smile upon dark. Ocean's breast, 

Or dance, in ripples, o'er his hushed strength. 



There's beauty in the tone of Music, when 
It lulls, with saddened sympathy, the heart 
That anguish breaks ; — so soothes 
The strain harmonious, that appears, 
Even through dim sorrow's tears, 
Hope ! with her sunny smiles ! — 
Or when, with happier chord, it quickens 
The deep pulse of love, and the charged heart 



41 

Still feels the loved one's presence, 

Though afar ; and, lulled in reverie, 

Communes as with a present bliss. 

With beauty glovrs fond Nature's face 

When flushed with dying radiance that the Lord 

Of her life sends down, as far in West 

He sinks, and clouds with varied hue and crest 

Roll in involv-ed splendor ; 

As smiles with brightness yet the vale, 

And placid lake and stream reflect 

The roseate Aurora ; and the snowy cap 

Of mountain monarch, peering from afar, 

Sends back to clouds their glory. 

There's beauty in the morning's opening smile 
Dissolving the dim mystery of night. 
Awakening earth and sky to life and light, 
While all her warbling heralds, in delight, 
Sprinkle the air w^ith music. 
There's beauty in the pensiveness of eve. 
When shadows like mournful memories steal 
O'er the repose of nature ; and subdue the soul 
To reverie, — while all the glittering ministers of 

Night 
Contrast with gloom their splendors. 



42 

But to the mind no beauty nature brings, 

As when, in mingled fervency of loves 

Unbought, spontaneous, chaste, pulsate 

Two guileless hearts in soft communion ; 

And mind and feature to each other lend beauty 

expressive. 
Dependent, trusting with a firm esteem 
That makes their faith inviolate. 
Each owns the cherished bondage, as Love, 
From heart expanding, clarifies each soul 
From earthly dross for higher holiness. 



43 



MORNING. 



While these in love's divine emotions lost 
The Oysterman wide ranges round the coast — 
Scarce now has bright Aurora tipped with light 
The glistening hills, and chased departing night ; 
Ere yet, aloft, her golden chariot flies, 
Resplendent beaming o'er the Eastern skies ; 
Sweeping the way of clouds, like duteous daughter, 
For Father Sol who comes up lumbering after — 
Scarce has the earliest rooster cleared his throat, 
And hailed the morning with vivacious note, 
Where, drowsy still, upon some neighboring rail, 
He opes his wings and shakes his dewy tail — 
Scarce has the lark been able to discern, 
For morning meal, the matutinal worm, 
Ere yet abroad, her early flight she tries 
And soars rejoicing to the upper skies ; 
To meet the morn, with gushing melodies, 
And sport with youngest beams from Phoebus' eyes. 
While moping w^atcli still keeps the vigil owl 
And blinking, winking, sits within his hole, 



44 

Wailing the dawn, in muttered, dying howl — 
Like morbid plaint from penitential soul ; 
When, OsTRECAPTOR seeks the neighboring shore 
Launches his bark, and grasps the ready oar — 
Swiftly compels th' obedient skiff to glide, 
In noiseless current, through the yielding tide ; 
Low bending, dexterous, pulls the pliant blade, 
Now to advance and now to retrograde ; 
In measured time, with quick repeated strokes, 
The circling eddies of the stream provokes ; 
Now here, now there, directs the changing prow, 
Now quicker moves, now cautiously more slow : 
Avoids the shallows, through entangling reeds, 
With vigorous arm the nimble vessel speeds — 
Till gained, at length, th' auspicious place, he 

throws 
The trusty anchor from th' dancing bows — 
Now, to St. Peter, of fishermen protector, 
Prays for good luck, and quaffs his first hiimecter — 
As, down his throat, the welcome moisture flows, 
Quick leaps the blood, and with new vigor glows ; 
A genial warmth renews the sluggish veins. 
And all the frame a freslien'd life attains. 
Thus fortified, he grasps by either limb. 
The oyster rake, and sinks it in the stream ; 



45 

Explores the river bed, with practiced skill, 
Tries every hole, and rakes o'er every hill — 
Then drinks again, then pulls, a little space ; 
Nov^^ rakes the mud, then tries another place ; 
Now blames his luck, as do all fishermen, 
Then paddles, drinks, rakes, pulls, and swears again. 
At length, beneath, the hardened shell reveals 
The destined prey, which 'gainst the rake he feels ; 
Then, with a jerk, constricts the iron teeth. 
And draws the ravished shell-fish from beneath. 



So have I seen, on fair Italia's shore. 
Basking in sun by old Cathedral door, 
Some anxious matron, steadfast, bending o'er 
Her nature's jewels, and with care explore 
The stock capillary on each tangled pate, 
In search of what doth nimbly animate 
Its mazes ; that she may depopulate 
Of creeping tenants — groping, now, she spies 
Some rash invader — marks him for her prize — 
With dexterous digits, nips th' unwary one, 
And drags, in triumph, from his hirsute home. 



46 



NIGHT IN TOWN. 



Now blinking Sol puts on his nigbt-cap 

And snugly, in the clouds, doth tight wrap 

His wearied coijnis, as, with mournful yawn. 

He grieves, at thought of getting up at dawn — 

When, spent with toil, the drowsy monarch snores, 

Old mother Night the sable curtain draws, 

Illumes the winking tapers of the sky, 

And bids her maiden, pensive Cynthia, nigh, 

To wait till morn, and silent vigil keep, 

Sola, upon her snoring lover's sleep. 

Cynthia, who long has watched, and watching 

loved, 
Though, e'en herself her rising love reproved — 
Who, for her god, in amorous longing, sighs. 
And mourns, when fades his glory from the skies ; 
But, when refulgent, shuns his warm embrace. 
Nor dares the awful splendors of his face. 
So gentle hearts in secrecy maintain 
The restless tumult of love's pleasing pain, 



47 

Content in solitude its cares to feel, 
Know naught but love, yet all their love conceal. 
E'en, to themselves, in timorous wonder, coy 
They feel, but own not th' jnstinctive joy. 
Though giving all, they claim no fond return, 
But pine in silence, and unheeded burn. 
Drinking from rended wounds with which it 

bleeds ; 
Still, on itself, the heart insatiate feeds. 
Till the poor spirit sinks at length to rest — 
Its life but love, its love by love unblest. 



Now lies in darkness muffled, all the town, 
Save where some gas-lamp penetrates the gloom, 
Or glancing lights from dwelling, or from inn, 
Keveal hilarity and life within ; 
Or mammoth lantern, with its painted glare, 
Invites the rover to potation there ; 
Or lighted coach along the pavement flies. 
Like some big bug, with phosphorescent eyes ; 
Or down an area, opened bull's-eye's rays 
Of drowsy watchman, sends a sudden blaze ; 
Now Vice creeps out, and crawls her slimy rounds. 
And brawling Mirth his noisy tocsin sounds. 



48 

Now skulking miscreants leave their murky lains, 
And Crime, abroad, its stealthy purpose dares — 
While on the roofs. Grimalkin amorous roves, 
And cooks, o'er railings, tell their greasy loves. 

Waves Morpheus over some his dewy wand, 

And wafts, from daily care, far into land 

Of dreams fantastic, where each simmering brain 

Selects its visions, and lives o'er again 

In past delights ; or wild imagination 

Builds new ideas, in queer confederation — 

Less favored some, the hideous Night-hag strides. 

And till the morn, on breast or belly rides, 

Pummels the brain, or sucks the yielding breath, 

Holding her struggling victim fast beneath. 

Others unite, for pleasure, or for gain, 

For cares religious, or for joys profane ; 

Each varied taste, to follow its desires, 

As reason or folly, whim or wine inspires. 

Some worship at Euterpe's favored shrine, 
Where bassos bellow, and where tenors whine ; 
And Prima Donna, through three acts insane. 
At length, sings back her brains again ; 



49 

While simpering Miss, at liome, so orthodox, 
Here, ogles boldly from her opera box ; 
To come, from night to night, she sighs. 
And waxes maudlin o'er the tenor's eyes ; 
While Pater, lost in dreams of "Speculation," 
Damns (to himself) the whole Italian nation. 
Although constrained, by Fashion's tyrant laws, 
To take a box, and join in the applause. 
Prim, at his side, sits stately dowager. 
Listening to love from pauper foreigner, 
Who, ceaseless chattering, seeks to win her 
To give him — (moderate man!) — a card to dinner! 
Here, buck pretentious 'mid the glitter glares. 
In lashion's gayest garb, and apish airs ; 
Poses himself, as does the Belvidcre, 
And shoots his witching arrows far and near, 
That harmless fall among the older game, 
Though little youngling feels the feathered flame ; 
With many an ogle then he doth afflict her. 
As on his rabbit glares the boa-constrictor, 
Around her prances, prinks, and swaggers, 
While she goes home to dream of — "love and 
daggers." 



50 

Vain of the robes by wanton Wealth suppliedj 
Here pampered Fashion, in ignoble pride, 
False in her face, as treacherous at heart, 
With Nature warring, hugs delusive Art. 
No genial glow her narrow bosom warms. 
No modest virtues lend their softening charms, 
No kindly feeling for another's good 
Dims the cold eye, or stirs the sluggish blood* 
In selfishness she sits enwrapped—alone — - 
Careless of joy or sorrow not her own. 
Her fawning minions on the Goddess wait^ 
In trifles judges; and minutely great — 
To them no treasures Contemplation brings, 
They cull no fruit that from Experience springs, 
From Reason's fount no sage conclusions draw, 
No lofty purpose know,— save self no law* 
Deaf to the rustling wings of fleeting time. 
Eager they turn where jingles Folly's chime j 
And Wisdom mocked, and disregarded Fame 
Fulfill an insect's mission 'round a flame. 
Constant in change, they trifle to the end, 
Live but to please — and die without a friend. 
Their life hypocrisy — their death a play I 
Where falsehood flatters, and where mummers 
pray— 



51 

There, cold Philosophy bestows a sneer, 
Reason, a laugh ! Pity, alone,-— a tear ! 

O'er mimic sorrows some their tears bestow, 
The Stranger^s troubles, or Paulina's woe : 
Where grief bombastic sets the galleries winking, 
With eyes, ears, mouth, each newest horror drink- 
ing ; 
And Melodrame, with lungs like a tornado, 

Dies in hyperbole, and fierce bravado : 

While those who, elsewhere, ne'er a tear confess, 

Or give a sous to aid a real distress, 

Here pay to blubber o'er a play-wright's cant, 

And moan, when burly Forrests rant : 

To ev'ry virtuous sympathy give vent. 

Applaud the good and laud the innocent. 

For half an hour — but, one would sure amaze 

To ask them, once to practice what they praise. 

Thus to be good, is, sure, the easiest way, 

And virtuous be, by inoxy — in a play ; 

To Heaven, give some common place abstractions, 

But to the Devil, all our life's transactions ; 

Nod at a virtue, when it passes by, 

If seen, perhaps, in Fashion's company, 

But should the rascal, elsewhere, be obtrusive, 



52 

Then kick him out, with epithets abusive ; 
Nor let such croaking meddlers interfere 
With one's brief current of enjoyment here. 

In tippling, some the fleeting moments pass, 

Diluting sorrow in the jovial glass : 

O'er reeking fumes, they love to wax loquacious, 

And then — "sick, amorous, or pugnacious. 

As round the bowl, in drunken fit, they gather, 

Great Bacchus knocks their muddled pates together. 

Of brain bereft ; than any timber thicker, 

So thick, that nothing can get in — but liquor ! 

Loud grows the revel, loud the ribald song, 

And strongest heads their maudlin wit prolong 

Far into morn ; — -w^hile, here and there, in rags. 

Outside, pale-faced Starvation, shivering, begs. 

To lectures many, where, for a "quarter" — 
Some iismdo-savan pours out wit*— like water ; 
Peers o'er his specs, like goosey o'er a fence. 
And beats the desk, in grandest eloquence : 
With metaphysics heats some simple theme, 
Then gets bewildered in his self-raised steam ; 
Confounded by his own wild exhalations, 
Gets wilder still in deeper explorations — 



53 

On waxen wings then tries a lofty pitch, 

But tumbles, headlong, in a common ditch ; 

There floundering, gropes about in vain, 

Some very simple myst'ry to explain. 

Drags common sense down with him to his puddle, 

And her, as well as self, doth strangely muddle. 

He to be great, all, surely, must agree. 

He's wrote a book ! and taken a degree ! — 

Up gape the audience at the wondrous man, 

And long to understand him — if they can — 

And if they can't — bemoan tlicir want of sense. 

While lauding still Ids vast intelligence. 

So Folly reigns, when blockheads are the Judges ; 

And Wisdom seems — what nothing else but fudge is. 

Thus Dullness, under vizor of IMinerva, 

Will ever find some wiseacres to serve her. 

Others, with morbid fantasies imbued. 
Delight to potter o'er congenial wood — 
Of previous stores their feeble craniuni's dry, 
Tliey rap o'er taUcs, for a fresh supply — 
Too lofty, mundane things to understand. 
They grope for knowledge in a spirit-land — 
There, all at home where nothing can be clear, 
Nonsense exalt, obscuritv revere. 



54 

Pale Irreligion aids, with practiced wiles, 
While Vice disguised, o'er future victims smiles. 
Some needy hag as Pythoness is found 
To lie, knock, swoon, or kick the table round. 
For her, great Milton leaves his shining peers. 
To talk with dunces of harmonious spheres — 
For her, staid Bacon skips around the room, 
Upsets the chairs, or rides upon a broom ; 
Rapping some mystic nonsense, by the hour, 
For gaping crowds, as gospel, to devour — 
While Saints and Devils, an obliging band, 
Preach, pray, or cut their capers at command — 
Here, scheming Fraud supplies what Folly lacks ; 
Who start as Fanatics, soon end as — Quacks ! 

Elsewhere, Miss Grim her glowing vengeance 

wreaks 
On Man th' usurper, and her protest squeaks 
'Gainst Woman's wrongs ! a revolution preaches — 
And shakes, in air, her flag — a pair of breeches ! 
Strong-minded creatures, grim and gaunt as spec- 
tres. 
All sit around chair-lady and projectors : 
No smile, no grace, no love adorns their course ; 
All hard, all square, all stern, all strong, all "Aorsc/" 



55 

Long-haired and eared apostles of the cause 
Support the fiiir, and bray out their applause. 
In vision, now, she feels herself a Sen'tor, 
On rostrum placed, and blows like any Stentor. 
Still, still at Man her mimic thunder hurls, 
Shakes out bad logic and — her corkscrew curls. 
Pray, good Miss Grim, what is the matter? 
Why all this gall, why all this ceaseless clatter? 
Why rail at Man, why, so irate palaver? 
The reason's plain — she gets no man to have her. 
O Cytherea ! — come thou to our aid. 
And rid us of this ancient, unsexed maid ; 
Nor let her, longer, for a fitting mate. 
Be clamoring, in such abnormal state — 
If for her Jack, each Jill may justly call, 
Send 7101V her Jack and turn to milk her gall — 
And, Goddess! when her luckless Jackie's found, 
Grant ! grant ! that he may keep her — g(Jgg(^d and 
hound ! 

Affairs of State, liere, draw a motley crew 
Of sharper, ruffian, rogue of every hue; 
Pickpockets sly, and pauper politicians, 
Ready, in any way, to better their conditions. 
The hired bully here seeks game to bruise on, 



56 

The turncoat there — who calls liis clmugcfi fusio?} , 
Follows, like hound, the party then in yogue, 
And calls his furmer comrade cheat and rogue ; 
Takes his flit place, and fattens on his fall, 
Eating his fellows like a cannibal. 
There, reeling "Pats," a new made voting host, 
Bestow their favors on who pays them most. 
Swear to support the laws and constitution. 
From which their ignorance gives absolution. 
In motley garb they follow those that feed 'em, 
And sell their votes before they've learnt to read 

'em . 
Here Candidahis smirks, and drinks, and bribes, 
And to all principles at once subscribes, 
Denounces those in power as arrant thieves, 
Calls for Reform, and for his country grieves: 
While he, the greatest rascal of the day, 
Wants but the chance fto be still worse than they. 
So want of power, oft makes those wondrous good 
Who'd reign like very Neros, if they could ; 
Who virtues claim, when placed in humble sta- 
tions. 
But shake them ofl', when great, like poor relations. 

There roars and howls Tiberius Gracchus Brown, 
Wh 'sg on his legs to knock " Creation" down ; 



0/ 

Too groveling he to rise to others' level ; 

So goes for sending all things — to the devil ! — 

Of people's rights the drnnken patriot bawls, 

" To arms, to ormsV — the dovvn-trod masses calls ; 

Croaks himself hoarse, and dry as any frog, 

Then — sells his country — for a glass of grog ! — 

So, take the loftiest patriot of the stump, 

Who blows the biggest and the loudest trump, 

Of patriotism prates ad nauseam, 

And seeks, with periods and big w^ords to palm 

Himself on masses, as Regenerator, 

Of Right and Virtue the great Vindicator, 

Who claims all " place," all faction to despise, 

So pure — would seem fit saint to canonize : 

When out of wind, and somewhat out at pocket, 

Plump — from his skies he falls, like finished rocket, 

No longer seeks, by humbug, to delude us. 

But sells himself — as cheap as any Judas ! 

Reserved thy triumphs for a ripened age, 
Time's fav'rite puppet on a changing stage. 
Where all are duped, and all alike applaud 
Thy genius. Humbug ! — and thy tricks reward. 
Thy dam Hypocrisy, by Falsehood sired. 
By Folly nurtured, and by Fraud inspired — 



58 

111 nature consiant, changing still in name 

111 purpose various, in deceit tlie same, 

Ail men thy victims, yet thy firm allies 

Tliy deeds disclaim, and yet thy friendship prize. 

Enduring Goddess of a fickle age ! 

The adult World's ignoble heritage ! 

More strong than Truth, than Virtue more pursued, 

Thy pride to cheat, thy mission to delude — 

Yet, as by sinner, so by saint implored, 

By sage enlisted, and by fool adored — 

Mankind thy slaves, yet all the world thy shrine, 

Thy works infernal, but thy rites divine. ! 

Thy shield of brass hides Truth's indignant face, 

And flashes Error on a blear-eyed race. 

Thy blatant voice drowns Merit's feeble cry 

Upholding f[ilsehood to the blushing sky. 

With shameless bluster and with bold acclaim 

Announcing wide its own asserted fame. 

Lo ! at thy feet where Worth and Honor lie 

Faith, Virtue, Love, and gentle Purity ; 

Each honest purpose, every generous aim, 

Disheartened, sinks before thy potent name. 

E'en Nature, taught by thee to play a part, 

Yields herself muzzled to thy minion. Art ; 

And like some beast, by Mountebank displayed 



50 

Performs abnormal tricks, in masquerade. 

Apostate Justice, doubly blind for thee, 

Yields ready judgment to thy perjury. 

By thee, the guiltless bleed, the culprit lives. 

And dextrous knavery, exulting, thrives : 

By thee, aspiring Dullness upward flies, 

And brazen Vice grasps struggling Virtue's prize. 

Say, must we ever feel thy perjured sway, 
Nor hail the glories of a nobler day ? 
Must Man, perfected, lose all manhood's pride. 
Live but to learn, yet learn but to misguide? 
Is Wisdom's end but Falsehood's vile success? 
Must Life's great lesson be but faithlessness ? 
Must ever Truth to juggling Fiction bow? 
And modest worth to meretricious show? 
When shall Man's nature rise, in Nature's might, 
And soar above this thick obstructing night ; 
Shake off the shackles that constrict the heart. 
And dare, at length, to play true Manhood's part? 
Above this atmosphere of social lies, 
Error's thick mists, and clouds of fallacies. 
Fly to a height, where Truth refulgent beams, 
Her rays unclouded by these noxious streams ; 
There, champion of her banner wide unfurled, 
Lead a new life in a regenerate World ? 



(iO 

But, let us leave these scenes of brawling life, 
With envy, hate, and fierce contention rife ; 
Where scmn of bubbling Civilization 
Thickens, in foul coagulation : 
Whence Honor shrinks, whence manly Virtues fly, 
The schools of Vice and low Hypocrisy — 
Go we, my Muse, to far more peaceful scenes, 
Which rather with thy milder taste convenes. 
In realms domestic, be it ours to dwell, 
Of humbler things, essay we now to tell. 



(>1 



P A K T III. 



CLOCINDA 



Far in the nether reahiis terrene, 

Clocinda reigns, the Goddess and the Queen, 

To her 'tis given each mystic change to know,. 

Tliat bodies alimental undergo — ■ 

The frame to nurture, to each taste to cater, 

Nature's most kind invi2:orator ! 

The spit her sceptre, parsely forms her crown. 

Kitchen her reahn, and wooden stool lier throne — 

Witli these installed, all powerful her sway. 

When she commands, all tremble and obey. 

Obedient Vulcan owns her sovereign power. 

And Croton summoned sends the prosperous show<?r, 

Portly her frame, and rubicund her face, 

Calm in repose, but awful in grimace : 



62 

Though kind her heart, and soft as freshest dough, 
Determination sits upon her brow. 
From her resolve appeals no captious she, 
Finn is her will, and final her decree. 
What dread dismay her gathering brows inspire, 
Whene'er, displeased, she rages round the fire ! 
Her voice like pounding pestles shakes the air 
And fills with terror all that lins-er there. 
Swift, for his hole, each mouse affrighted runs,- 
E'en crawling roach the raging priestess shuns ; 
Poor Pompey slinks far in the deepest shade. 
And every cat through window, flies dismayed ! 
John whistles low, yet wisely holds his tongue, 
While trembling Betty wonders what goes wrong. 
But when, again, upon her rotund cheeks, 
A glowing smile, a mind contented speaks. 
All else doth smile, all else a pleasure knows. 
With cheerful radiance all the kitchen glows — 
With greater lustre shines each burnished tin, 
And simmering pots their liveliest airs begin. 

As when fierce Boreas rules the raging skies, 
Summons his winds, and bids the tempest rise ; 
Marshals, from far, the clouds in grim array, 
And spreads their gathering volumes for the fray; 



63 

Low, muttered roars a mask-ed fury telJ, 
As restless with wratliful power, they swell, 
'Till, lowering flir, they hang the Heavens in 

gloom, 
And bind the earth within a vapory tomb — 
The howling winds a fearful music make, 
Preluding fiercely, to the tempest's rack : 
While fleecy clouds, as heralds, scour the air, 
And bid the laggarts to the coming war. 
Hark ! from the North, that peal, like signal gun 
Declares tli' aerial war begun — 
One sheet of flame now pales the lurid sky, 
Then bursts, in awful roar, great Heaven's artillery. 
Huge clouds, like warring vessels, sail the skies. 
Hurling their bolts, as each to each replies — 
Their ceaseless thunders beat the throbbing air, 
Each peal responsive to the lightning's glare. 
Which ever through the gloom, like forked tongue 
Of fiery serpent, darts the heavens among. 
Contending whirlwinds from all quarters rise, 
And floods now burst from forth the teeming skies, 
Their furious waters all the earth invade — 
All trembling Nature prostrate sinks, dismayed — 
Awe-stricken man now owns his feeble powers, 
And Him that rules the raging storm adores. 



But see ! emerging from tlie weeping sky. 

As new-born Venus, rising from tlie sea, 

The lovely daughter of the storm appear, 

Of peace and hope the harbinger, — 

As bright her glowing beauties rise. 

Hushed is the fury of the skies. 

Fierce Boreas, softened, stills his wrath, 

AVhile gentle Zephyrs crowd her path. 

The torrents cease, the vapors fly. 

All heaven owns her mild supremacy. 

Gladly the earth receives the gentle maid — 

And joyous Nature all her charms displayed, 

Eecovering soon, from previous fears. 

Smiles still more sweetly through her glist'ning 

tears. 
E'en so, Clocinda's rising smile foretels 
A grateful calm, and every fear dispels. 

Lo ! where, majestic, by the crackling flame. 

She seems a priestess, o'er some mystic scheme 

Divinely rapt, while, pierced by spit, 

Pinioned and plucked before th' embrowning heat 

Tlie victim turns ; revolving slow, 

Him she annoints with juices from below. 

While molten fat ascend;^ in savory clouds, 



65 

A grateful incense to the household gocls. 

Her plastic genius now she bends anew 

To make, what mortals call, the " Oyster Stew " — 

True talent not alone doth lie 

In great endeavor, and capacity 

To do the loftiest deeds ; but also to bestow 

A higher place on humbler things, and throw 

O'er that, which hitherto obscure hath been, 

The light of genius, and the voice of fame. 

Clocinda's genius elevates the dish, 

And makes it all that man or gods might wish. 

First, in the cauldron cleansed with anxious care 

The savory celery she doth prepare. 

Then, over this inverts the crystal stream, 

And gives the cauldron to the genial flame. 

Then adds the exuberant udder's freshest yield 

Ta'en from the kine, that roam, at large, the field, 

In sunny Orange, nor forgets the grease 

Yellow and sweet, that Goshen, land of peace 

And pasture, justly boasts, — then adds, but sparsely, 

To give a vernal tase, the well-minced parsley — 

Her snow-white tribute, next, doth Ceres give. 

Which, first, Clocinda cares to pass through sieve; 

Then throws it in, commixed by slow degrees. 

Or more or less, each varied taste to please — 



66 

Her vigorous arm now nimbly stirs the mess, 
Which constant skill requires and wariness, 
Lest lambent flames too fiercely lick the pot 
And burn by rendering prematurely hot. 

DESTINY. 

Ruthless destroyer of each peaceful race ! 
Proud man ! when shall tliy tyrant power cease ? 
To meet thy will, to please thy changing taste 
All else must die, all nature sink oppressed ; 
Each tie parental, each congenial yoke 
Of nature's humbler tribes, by thee is broke, 
Each lowly joy, each instinct's soft desires 
Each little life envied by thee expires. 
As wild laments his agony reveal, 
In vain contending 'gainst the ruthless steel, 
For thee, torn from his loving mother's side. 
The tender calf pours forth the purple tide ; 
For thee, the lambkin yields its budding life. 
And hog, complaining, sinks beneath the knife, 
Where, vainly struggling in a fierce despair, 
With hideous yells he fills the astonished air ; 
Each fond companion hears th' unusual cries. 
And to his grief, with answering grief, replies; 



67 

Each rock repeats the unharmonious woe, 
Through echoing woods the chorused squealings 

grow, 
Startle the wond'ruig birds, iu farthest ghides, 
And di'ive fair Dryads into deeper shades. 
For thee, the finny people meet their doom. 
By cruel barb dragged from their watery home — 
Ensnared by thee, they seize the fancied prey, 
Then, gasping, wondering, pant their life away. 
For thee, each cackling mother mourns her young. 
When Biddy seeks a victim them among. 
For thee, each gobbler mourns his slaughtered 

mate, 
And patient ox, resistless, meets his fate. 
Lo ! where, in massive strength revealed. 
Mild eyed, the gentle giant of the field ! 
Laborious servant of the exacting soil, 
Kind in his strength, and unreserved in toil, 
Calmly contemplative, complacent chews 
Th' redoubled herb, and simple thought pursues; 
Musing on clovered meads, or sparkling rills 
That danced tlirough verdure down his native hills. 
When all unchecked he ruled his little dames 
Browsed o'er the plainsand frolicked in the streams. 
When doomed for thee, full on his hairy brow 



68 

The brawny butcher aims the barb'rous blow. 
Full on the front the ponderous weight descends, 
Through hair, skull, brains, resistless passage 

rends — 
As struck by fiery missive from the skies, 
Falls the crushed brute, and bleeding, quivering 

lies — 
In one long sigh expels his struggling breath — 
Then sinks supine his giant frame in death. 
For thee, the pheasant, as the aerial blue 
He cleaves rejoicing, when at length in view 
Of piping brood, his daily, sweetest care. 
Hastening with them his gathered toils to share ; 
Struck to the heart, receives the leaden death, 
And stiffening lies upon the ensanguined heath. 

Thy fiery mandate bathes the earth in blood. 
Thy life is death — all Nature's tears thy food — 
Insatiate tyrant ! will not these suffice, 
Will these not fill the bloody sacrifice ? 
Must shell-fish too, that mild, innocuous race, 
More victims yield to feed thy wild caprice ? 
More victims yield to that absorbing power. 
That craves all things organic to devour ? 
Alas ! for thee, must mild moluscules bleed, 
Must they too fall thy pampered maw to feed ? 



69 

Ready the burning broth, the fated hour has come ! 
Trembling, appalled, each dreads the coming doom. 
In memory, each the pleasing scene surveys 
Where passed the peaceful hours of happier days, 
The silvery stream, the far extending shore 
With weed and clam-shells all besprinkled o'er. 
The verdant slime, the mossy rocks o'erhead. 
The yielding mud that formed their native bed ; 
Scenes of their early childhood's simple bliss, 
Or mutual love's maturer happiness. 
Where peace, o'er all diffused its magic spell. 
And sweet contentment smiled in every shell ; 
Where Friendship's genial ray each bosom warmed. 
Doubled each joy, and every fear disarmed. 
Where oft by Fancy led, in sportive mood, 
They scaled the rocks, or burrowed in the mud. 
Roamed o'er the pebbly shore, or 'mid the reeds 
Chased their kind loves and sought the cooling 

shades. 
There, sheltered close from Phoebus' noontide 

beam. 
Wooed the soft breeze that crept along the stream, 
Told their fond longings to the listening fair. 
And claimed for love its sweetest triumphs there ; 
Where, all at ease, beneath the genial day. 



70 

In glowing charms each panting beauty lay ; 
Harmonious with surrounding Nature's fires 
And dreaming thoughts that dreamy Love inspires. 
While some from valves, in wild, mischievous play, 
O'er sleeping comrades jerk the cooling spray, 
Or slily crack the sea-weed's slimy fruit 
Where ardent lover presses earnest suit. 
Or nip the bee, or gaudy summer fly 
As skimming the stream they flit exulting by. 
Or watch, perchance, swift darting from the skies 
The screaming hawk secure his scaly prize. 
Or mark the nimble trout, in sportive mood, 
Leap from the stream and frolic in the flood, 
Basking his glittering sides in noontide rays. 
Or devious paddling, in a sluggish ease, 
While various songsters from each pensile limb 
That hang umbrageous o'er the sun-lit stream. 
The languid air with warbled richness cloy, 
Telling in music all their amorous joy. 
As thus, the pleasures of their simple homes 
They various see — a deeper anguish comes 
O'er each fond bosom, and in hopeless tears 
Fond memory lingering murmurs, while appears 
Despair with sable banner, through the gloom. 
And waves them on, reluctant, to their doom. 



71 

The stern Clocinda marks them for her own, 
Each by her hand remorseless now, is thrown 
Within the bubbling cauldron ; hissing tires 
Their requiem sing, and bubbling each expires. 
One last embrace, one long, entrancing kiss, 
One lingering dream of love and happiness 
The lovers know, then tearfully await 
The dreadful summons of impending fate. 
Oh ! great divinity of wedded love ! 
Let grief like theirs thy kind compassion move. 
And thou, bright Venus ! to thy votaries come, 
And rescue them from this too early doom ; 
Arm all thy Cupids, bid the potent band 
Arrest for once the stern Clocinda's hand — 
Still let them live, and all thy pleasures prove 
Too short, as yet, their happy dream of love ! 
How sad, at length when sweet fruition crowns 
Hope's golden dream, and fortune adverse frowns 
No more, but wreath-ed now in smiles 
With bliss before unknown the heart beguiles : 
When, soul to soul, by sweet emotions tied, 
And every wish and every thought allied ; 
Dependent each, and every look revealing 
The depth of joy, the ecstacy of feeling — 
When all the future seems a present bliss, 



( ^ 



And life but a dream of happiness, 
The world an Eden, where eacli joy to prove, 
With time, a slave to minister to love. 
'Tis sad that then an adverse fate should sever 
Those golden joys they dreamt were joys for ever. 
In vain their love, their fondest hopes in vain. 
Vanished their dream — no more to know again, 
Those sweet desires, those springs of soft emotion, 
That priceless gift a heart's unbought devotion ; 
All that of earth to brighten life is given, 
Firm as the faith, and pure as joys of Heaven. 
Fate's summons comes ; together clasped they die — 
Together stewed ! within the pot they lie ! — 
Mourn ye fond lovers ! their untimely fate. 
Weep, weeji, ye Cupids who on lovers wait — 
Yet — weep them not, nor mourn their early doom 
In Julia's throat! theyjind an envied tomh! 



FINIS. 



X107 








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WERT 
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Grantville Pa 
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